College baseball preview: Drake High grad Kenilvort adds slider to repertoire for Mariners

The skills of a magician are not a prerequisite for success as a pitcher in baseball. Sleight of hand, however, does come in handy on the mound.

College of Marin pitcher Alec Kenilvort, whose younger brother Brandon is a starter on the COM basketball team, is reviving a once promising baseball career three years removed from ace status at Drake High and he's bringing a new trick with him this time around.

Kenilvort, an imposing 6-foot-6, 235-pound sophomore, has added a nasty little slider to his repertoire after relying on a hard-to-master overhand curve as his out pitch in his younger days. His new pitch is quite a bit more difficult for batters to detect than the old big breaking ball.

"I used the curveball in high school as my go-to pitch," said Kenilvort, who red-shirted last season after a mostly unproductive freshman season at Solano the previous year. "Even if the curve is hard to hit, the release point on a slider is more similar to my fastball and you don't signal the pitch as much as on a curve. The slider is a nice swing-through pitch and it's nice to have an out-pitch with a little more velocity."

Kenilvort developed the slider in the last year under the tutelage of COM pitching coach Conor Bird, who was instrumental in developing last year's Mariners' pitching stars Ben Herrick, who set a school record with 11 wins, and Will White, who was drafted by the Florida Marlins.

There has never been a question about the effectiveness of Kenilvort's two-seam fastball, which hits the low 90s on the radar gun and has a natural down-and-in wrinkle.

COM coach Steve Berringer, who guided the Mariners to the Bay Valley Conference regular-season title last season, said there were approximately 20 scouts on hand when Kenilvort debuted Jan. 28 at College of San Mateo, his first college pitching assignment in two years.

"The pitch the scouts love is his fastball," Berringer said. "His fastball has lots of movement and a heavy downward motion. It's hard for batters to make solid contact against him."

Kenilvort, meanwhile, is doing his best to ignore the buzz surrounding him. He's more interested in providing steady quality starts once a week for the Mariners after suffering through a red-shirt season, which tried his patience at times last year.

"It was my own fault I had to red-shirt," Kenilvort said. "My grades weren't good enough to be able to play. It was frustrating last year to be working out with the team, putting in all that work and not being able to chart progress in anyway."

Kenilvort, in retrospect, says his decision to go to Solano instead of staying in his own backyard might have been a mistake.

"I really didn't know what I wanted to do," he said. "Looking back, I wish I had gone to College of Marin instead. But, at the time, I wanted to do something a little different. Maybe it was a mistake. But fortunately, I have been well received coming back to COM."

Berringer welcomed Kenilvort back with open arms and has trouble containing his enthusiasm for his big right-hander's potential.

"Alec hasn't quite found his rhythm yet. But it's fine. His stuff is there," Berringer said. "He's adjusted his mechanics this year, which has benefited him. He has put himself into a position to be a Division I transfer, which he will be at the end of the year."

At this point, Kenilvort is not concerned about whether he is drafted or offered a college baseball scholarship. He's just glad to be back and moving forward.

"My goal is to get to the next level, if that's beyond college, that's awesome," he said. "But it will come down to whichever is the best option when it happens. If I get everything done like I'm supposed to this year, it will all fall in line. My red-shirt season gave me a chance to rethink everything. Being away from baseball for a year made me realize what an opportunity baseball provides and what it can offer in the long run."

And in the short run, Kenilvort likes COM's chances for another strong season.

The Mariners, who are off to a 5-2 start , are ranked ninth in Northern California preseason polls.

"With our success last year and how many guys we have coming back, we're taking the approach that this is our chance to prove our ranking and to prove last year was no fluke," Kenilvort said.

Berringer is also upbeat about his 2014 club, pointing out a potent trio of returning sophomore sluggers — first baseman Ryan Burke, the 2012 MCAL player of the year for San Marin, shortstop Bryan Bostjancic who played at Drake and left fielder Jared English — in the middle of the lineup. Designated hitter Dominic Deville, a sophomore from Petaluma, adds some pop in the clean-up slot.

COM's ace behind the plate is returning catcher Tommy Beritzhoff.

"Tommy is the glue of our team," Berringer said. "The way he controls the pitching staff and controls the pace and tempo of the game is remarkable. And he's hitting this year, too."

COM's No. 2 pitcher is Steven Nagy, a sophomore transfer from Cuesta College, and reliever Hayden Hall, a sophomore sidewinder from Rocklin, already has three saves. The remainder of the everyday starting lineup includes freshman second baseman Sam Schmidt and right fielder Steven DeMartini, a freshman from Marin Catholic. Nagy and sophomore Francis Griffin share center-field duties, and sophomore Andre Holmes and Sterling Champagne, a freshman from Marin Catholic, will both see time at third.